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Their is a little switch up at the top. One way for summer months, the other way for winter months to pull the heat around the room. hmmmm that always confused me. Go look at yours they should all have that switch.
Reverse is great for winter months especially if you have high ceilings. Pushes the heat down.
RaleighRob, cracked me up about those design shows like Trading Spaces that remove fans. I totally agree w/ RR. I read a quote from "Laurie" a Trading Space Designer... she admits she has ceiling fans in many of her rooms in her home. Because she lives in Mississippi where it is essential.
If you're going to live here and you have a porch, a ceiling fan is mandatory. Not only does it keep you cool on those hot sticky summer evenings when you're throwing back the gin and lemonade but it also helps with bugs too.
Besides, having a ceiling fan on your porch is the Southern thing to do. You want to fit in don't you?
I would do ceiling fans in a pattern that circulates air all over your home. Also huge item not many people even think of if you have a window that faces the sun get a shade with reflective capability or get someone to 3M film your windows. I had this huge decorative window up in the high in the great room.
It was useless but looked good from the outside. I had someone come in and put the window film on it and it took the temp down in that great room. I also had them do my sidelights in each side of the front door so people who stare in could see NOTHING. It was 200.00 for one big window and the 10 little sidelights and was so very worth it.
I vote yes on the ceiling fan. Something else to consider is a whole house fan (some people call this an attic fan). We used to turn ours on for an hour or so before we went to bed in the summer. It's great. It cools down everything very quickly and fills the house with fresh air.
WOW, I haven't seen a home with one of these in a looong time. The house that i grew up in(parents still live there) has one and i can remember many nights falling asleep with the curtains standing almost straight out from it. Ahh, the good old days!
If you're going to live here and you have a porch, a ceiling fan is mandatory. Not only does it keep you cool on those hot sticky summer evenings when you're throwing back the gin and lemonade but it also helps with bugs too.
Besides, having a ceiling fan on your porch is the Southern thing to do. You want to fit in don't you?
Can anyone answer this?
We moved to Austin to a resale house and the porch fan paddles look like they are drooping. Is this known to happen with all the humidity?
We have over 90% humidity some days in Indiana and we continue to use the AC but the ceiling fans make it seem about 5 degrees cooler. We use one in the bedroom to cool us at night so we dont have to cool downt the whole upstairs. We added them to the last 3 houses and would consider them a requirement.
Had to laugh at the designer shows where they were always removing the fan.
There are gorgeous fans out there now and lots of different ideas.
We moved into our new (to us) home in May...has ceiling fans in almost every room in the house. I think it's wired to also have one in the guest room and dining area. As soon as we can, we are adding them there as well. I LOVE them. Don't know how we would have survived without them. Liz
I live in tropical Florida. I have ceiling fans in every room of the house except the bathrooms and kitchen, and I will have them in those rooms in my new house. I also have them on the porches and in the garage.
They work much better in high humidity than they do in dry climates. In dry climates, all they do is push the hot air around. With high humidity, they actually create evaporative cooling. Think about the huge fans that are placed on the sidelines of sports events -- they mist water into the moving air. The Olympics in Atlanta back in the late 90's also used misted, moving air to cool folks. The old "air conditioners" for early VW beetles were cannisters that hung out the window with a speed-driven turbo fan and water.
All you need in Florida to stay cool is shade and moving air -- especially if you are really sweating, the evaporation of the perspiration will naturally cool you quickly. When I'm working outside in the hot sun, all I have to do is step into shade with a breeze, and the apparent temperature drops 20 degrees.
Definitely, absolutely plan on as many fans as you can accommodate.
Their is a little switch up at the top. One way for summer months, the other way for winter months to pull the heat around the room. hmmmm that always confused me. Go look at yours they should all have that switch.
We have vaulted ceilings and directing the airflow from a ceiling fan really does make a difference for us. During the summer it pulls the hot air upward and in the winter we redirect the airflow to pull the warm air downward.
Remember that in hot weather, you want the blades to direct the moving air towards you, that is to say, DOWN. In the winter, directing the blades upward, causes the warmer air that collects near the ceiling to move downward to mix with the cooler air of the room.
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I totally agree w/ RR. I read a quote from "Laurie" a Trading Space Designer... she admits she has ceiling fans in many of her rooms in her home. Because she lives in Mississippi where it is essential. 
Outside Fan
